Elemental Affinity
Elemental Affinity is an ability or trait present in some pieces of equipment in the series, which enhances the elemental damage dealt by the user. Appearances Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy V Several pieces of equipment increase the power of elemental attacks by +50%. The bonus is applied before subtracting the opponent's Magic Defense. Final Fantasy IX Every piece of equipment that grants an elemental boost raises damage by 50%. This does not apply to special attacks like Steiner's Shock or Amarant's No Mercy; though they take on the element of their equipped weapon they do not get a 50% increase from element-boosting equipment. Final Fantasy XI A variety of staves offer different levels of elemental affinity. In addition to increasing the damage dealt by appropriate spells, affinity also improves casting accuracy and reduces the recurring cost of a summoner's elementally-aligned pets. The hidden downside is that spells of the element weak to the affinity become less powerful and more likely to miss. A summoner also spends greater MP sustaining a pet that suffers from the equipped element. These penalties are the inverse of the benefits that the affinity would normally grant. For example, Neptune's Staff, with tier 2 water affinity, strengthens Flood by 15% with 30 bonus accuracy but increases the cost of using Ifrit, whose fire is vulnerable to water, by 3 MP every 3 seconds. This contributes to the popular practice of switching staves for each spell that a mage employs. Customizable staves available at high levels provide an opportunity to improve one aspect of affinity at the cost of another. One augmented item may offer more damage, less accuracy, and no reduction in perpetuation cost while another offers only a large perpetuation benefit. Advanced customizations further improve affinity with a reduction in casting time for aligned spells. Final Fantasy XII Both enemies and player characters can boost their elemental damage with the corresponding affinity. Whereas certain enemies simply naturally have an affinity toward an element, player characters can use the effect via equipment. When a character equips a weapon or armor that has an elemental affinity, all damage, both physical and magickal, associated with the element, is boosted by 50%. The affinity bonus is independent of the weapon's own element, in that the bonus usually exists on its own and elemental weapons usually don't have an elemental affinity. Elemental affinities do not stack, so there is no benefit in equipping two pieces of equipment that give an affinity to the same element simultaneously. For example, none of the staves that have the elemental affinity trait have an element in the weapon. Instead, the user benefits from the affinity by casting magick of the element the weapon gives a bonus for, but there is no bonus for physically attacking with said weapon as the damage with physical attacks is non-elemental. In the original version, all ninja swords have the element of Dark, but none has an elemental affinity on the Dark element. To apply the elemental affinity to ninja swords the character must wear the Black Robes armor, which gives a +50% boost to Dark elemental damage, making all attacks dealt with ninja swords +50% the normal damage. This is no longer the case in the Zodiac versions, as most of the ninja swords had their element changed or removed, and only the Yagyu Darkblade retains its original dark element. Also, since the cannot equip the Black Robes, they cannot benefit from the damage boost. Holy Rod is the only weapon that is both elemental and has an elemental affinity; its Holy element is strengthened by its own Holy affinity, so all physical attacks will be 50% more powerful, compensating for the weapon's fairly low attack power. The effect is even greater against enemies that are weak against Holy, as they will take double damage from Holy, plus the +50% bonus. Potentially the greatest damage increase is dealt to an oiled enemy through the casting of a fire elemental spell while equipped with the Flame Staff or the Burning Bow, as oiled targets take triple the normal damage from Fire-elemental attacks. The bonus damage also applies, when the same conditions are satisfied, through physically attacking enemies using the Burning Bow with the Fiery Arrow ammunition. Should the oiled enemy be also weak to fire, the total damage can reach 900%. In the Zodiac versions, since all jobs have a limited pool of equipment each, the only jobs that can benefit from the elemental affinity damage boosts are the Red Battlemage, White Mage, Black Mage, Archer, Foebreaker, Monk, and Bushi by equipping the necessary equipment. However, the can only benefit by using the items Dark Mote or Holy Mote, while the can do so by using Aquara Mote or getting Water cast through Shades of Black. In The Zodiac Age, every character can choose two License Boards, so the player can pair the characters with this in mind; for example, Knight/Bushi can use Excalibur (holy-elemental weapon) and White Robes at the same. The Cloud Staff and Staff of Magi were boosted in the Zodiac versions. Cloud Staff was given the elemental affinities to Wind and Lightning, in addition to the Water affinity it already had. Staff of Magi gains affinities to Ice and Wind, in addition to the Holy it already had. The effects are not documented in the in-game menu. Final Fantasy XIII Fire Affinity, Frost Affinity, Lightning Affinity, Water Affinity, Wind Affinity and Earth Affinity increase the damage dealt by the user's corresponding elemental attacks and exist as passive abilities in equipment. The bonus is between +20% - 50%, depending on the affinity's strength. Final Fantasy Tactics There are several types of equipment that increase the power of elemental attacks. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Some weapons and one armor enhance the effect of certain elements. In some cases, these equipment not only enhance but also absorb the element. Final Fantasy Legend II There are four MAGI that augment the power of elemental abilities. Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light The Elementalist's job abilities Augment and Amplify enhance the effects of allies' elemental attacks and last four turns. Final Fantasy Dimensions ''World of Final Fantasy In the ''Maxima version exclusive Hidden Dungeon, an "elemental affinity" condition may randomly take effect on a floor, doubling elemental damage to enemies with elements they are weak to. Category:Battle elements Category:Elements